The 2007-08 Celtics just can’t get along.
Kendrick Perkins eviscerated his championship-winning teammate and fan favorite Brian Scalabrine on Tuesday.
Perkins, who was noticeably absent from the Celtics’ 2023-24 championship ring night to start the season, said, “I don’t give a f–k” when asked on the “All The Smoke” podcast whether it was true that the team banned him from the event.
Perkins added that what really upset him was when Scalabrine, the team’s NBC Boston TV analyst said, “It’s not really an open-arms thing with Kendrick Perkins.”
Those comments from Scalabrine were in response to current Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla establishing an open-door policy for all former Celtics players to come to see practice anytime.
Perkins, the starting center for the 07-08 Celtics that defeated the Kobe Bryant-led Lakers in the NBA Finals, was seemingly furious with Scalabrine.
Warning: Adult Language
“Scal, who the f–k are you,” Perkins said on “All Smoke.” “You’s the same motherf—ker that when we won a championship, was in street clothes, hurry up and went changed into your jersey so once we started taking pictures, you could know that you was a part of the team.
“And I actually like Scal, but I thought there should have been a phone conversation, right?”
Scalabrine averaged just 1.8 points per game in 48 games played during the 2007-08 season and did not appear in the playoffs.
Meanwhile, Perkins started all 78 games he played that year, and while he was fazed out during parts of the playoffs, he still averaged 25.2 minutes per playoff game with 6.6 points and 6.1 rebounds.
The ex-Celtic added that Mazzulla had contacted Perkins about attending team events.
“Start of this season, I actually get an email from Joe Mazzulla saying, ‘Whenever you’re free if you’re in Boston or we play the Rockets, I wanna go to dinner and break bread.’”
Perkins added that he intends to take Mazzulla up on the offer.
Boston’s 2008 NBA Finals team had previously been embroiled in controversy when Ray Allen unceremoniously departed for the rival Heat led by LeBron James in 2010.
Allen finally reunited with teammates Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett in 2022 when the latter got his jersey retired.
The Celtics appear on the brink of starting another all-time great run for the storied franchise after they won the NBA Finals last year and have begun this season 7-1.